Vienna Red Karl Ratzer Trio

• 1 I Fall in Love Too Easily 04:27
• 2 Footprints 13:21
• 3 Blue Moon 06:49
• 4 Until You're Mine 10:40
• 5 Poor Butterfly 05:08
• 6 Splendid Bandit / Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing 10:24
• 7 Sometime Ago 06:25
• 8 Agoque (Bonus Track) 09:05
• 9 Beautiful Black Eyes (Bonus Track) 11:00
• Total Runtime 01:17:19

Info for Vienna Red

Venerable Vienna-based guitarist Karl Ratzer joins forces with bassist Peter Herbert and Howard Curtis on his 36th album as a leader or co-leader. Their indelible chemistry was forged over many years of gigging at the Viennese jazz club Porgy & Bess. The results of that longstanding gig are readily apparent on 'Vienna Red', a live recording documenting the trio at that very same Jazzclub.

An intimate and elegant affair, it showcases Ratzer with his highly interactive rhythm tandem alternately swinging fervently, exploring seductive Bossa Novas and plumbing the depths of emotion on moving ballads marked by the leader's heart-wrenching, affecting vocals. And the release of this very potent album happens to coincide with the guitarist's 75th birthday.

Karl Ratzer, guitar, vocals
Peter Herbert, bass
Howard Curtis, drums

Karl Ratzer
Born in Vienna, Austria, as a child to KZ survivors, Karl Ratzer teaches himself the guitar autodidactically. His first stage appearances are at the age of eleven – what follows are forming years in which Ratzer ascends to one of the most well-known rock guitarists in the German-speaking world. Initially the guitar of the Teenbeats and The Slaves, Ratzer founds his own formation The Charles Ryder Corporation in 1967. Then follow C-Department (1969–71) and Gipsy Love (1971–72).

1972 to 1980 are spent in the States, where Ratzer collaborates and publishes with jazz calibers the likes of Joe Chambers, Jeremy Steig, Dan Wall, Bob Mintzer, Gary Anderson, Claudio Roditi, Sal Nistico, Steve Grossmann, Ray Mantilla und Eddie Gomez. Main stations are New York, Chicago and Atlanta. It was Chet Baker who in the course of a Europe tour, reintroduced Ratzer to the continent.

Back in Vienna, countless collaborations with acclaimed Jazz musicians follow – among them Fritz Pauer, Hans Koller, Art Farmer, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Lee Konitz, Clark Terry, Franz Kogelmann, Hans Salomon und Johnny Griffin. Ratzer works with Chaka Khan and Viennese folk legends Karl Hodina und Tommy Hojsa. Ratzer was musical director and one of four founding members of the jazz club Camarillo (1988–89). From 1999 to 2003, he taught jazz guitar as a guest professor on the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz, and transferred t0 the Vienna Music Institute as professor in 2004.

Since 2010, Karl Ratzer emerges primarily in various compositions with Ed Neumeister (trombone), Johannes Enders (tenor saxophone), Peter Herbert (bass), Howard Curtis (drums), Andreas Werth (organ) and Margarethe Herbert’s eXtracello.

Awards:

On Jan 23rd, 2002, Ratzer’s musical accomplishments are awarded the Medal of Honor of the Federal Capital Vienna. In 2017, the CD My Time is nominated for the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in the category Jazz / World / Blues. On Jan 25th, 2022, the Republic of Austria confers Ratzer with the title Professor. On Jul 7th, 2022, Ratzer receives the Gold Medal of Merit of the State of Vienna. At the Amadeus Austrian Music Award 2023, Karl Ratzer’s lifetime achievements are honored with an Amadeus.

This album contains no booklet.